


The Gullson

by A_Small_Collection_Of_Nonsense



Series: Just Life [3]
Category: Ducktales 2017
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Louie centric fic, Louie is insecure bab, Pre-Shadow War, Will Add More Tags as Fic Goes On, also sneaky, family love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-01-04 15:22:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21199847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Small_Collection_Of_Nonsense/pseuds/A_Small_Collection_Of_Nonsense
Summary: Louie, annoyed that he and the family get no credit or reward for risking their necks to find treasure for their Uncle’s money bin, steals a necklace that was brought in amongst the haul.But when he wakes up, everything has changed, and with the help of some unlikely allies, Louie is the only one who can save his family.Can he talk his way out of this one?





	1. What’s the worst that could happen?

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same timeline as my Just Life series, Pre-Shadow War

It was with the sound of doors being swung open that the peace in McDuck Manor was shattered.

‘_BEAKLEY_!’ Yelled Scrooge, trotting ahead of the Launchpad and Dewey, who were pushing a large, heavy looking contraption between them. Scrooge grinned at Beakley as she walked briskly past him and picked the contraption up, ‘Where to?’ She asked  
‘The garage, s’not important’ Scrooge replied, waving a dismissive hand, ‘_This_ is important!’ He gestured towards Huey, Louie and Webby, who were carrying sacks full of money into the house, ‘Once we convert it into dollars, of course’  
‘And you insist that _Goldie’s_ a theif?’  
Scrooge turned around to face Donald, who’d just come out of the kitchen and had a raised eyebrow. ‘_O’Gilt_ steals from the living, I take from the dead’  
‘And the difference is?’  
‘The difference is that whatshisface didn’t need the money’ Louie piped up from across the room, ‘cause he’s kinda dead’  
‘His name was Thomas Gullson!’ Huey corrected just as Beakley re-entered the room, ‘How do you forget a name like that?!’  
‘Like, really easily’  
‘So what poor sod’s contraption was that?’ Asked Beakley, who hadn’t heard a large majority of the conversation. Huey came running over, and pulled out the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook from underneath his hat, ‘That “contraption” was the Gullson, bui-‘  
Huey was cut off as the lights throughout the mansion dimmed, and Webby’s face was illuminated by a torch underneath her chin.  
‘Ahem’ Webby coughed, and in a low voice began to speak, ‘The Gullson was built in 1807 by Thomas A Gullson-‘  
‘What does the A stand for?’ Asked Donald, but no one answered, because no one could understand him, ‘Thomas was an inventor, and used his inventions in order to cause havoc among the town he resided in…but then he built the Gullson’ Webby paused for dramatic effect, but paused for to long and made it look more like she’d forgotten what she was going to say, ‘Thomas claimed that the Gullson was his proudest invention yet, and that using it, he would recruit an army and storm Buckingham Palace-‘  
‘Why?’ Asked Donald, but nobody answers him, and Donald had a sneaking suspicion they were simply choosing not to understand him.  
‘But before he could put it to use, he suddenly emerged from his home with a change of heart, and started using his inventions for good. He became a good, law abiding man, and forbid anyone from going anywhere near the Gullson, and to this day, no one knows why’  
‘Actua-‘  
Huey was cut off yet again by Webby’s torch clicking off, a scuffle of footsteps and the lights flickering back on again. ‘Webby! What did we say about the vents?’ Called Beakley when she heard a thumping noise coming from them, but Webby was too busy pretending not to be in the vents to notice.  
‘How’d she get the lights off?’ Asked Donald, and Scrooge, who had now miraculously been granted the ability to understand him shrugged.  
‘Where’s Dewey?’ Asked Louie, glancing around, ‘I’m guessing the fuse box’ groaned Donald, trudging off to go and find him.  
‘_Aaaaanyway_’ said Huey, flicking through the JWG, ‘We actually do have a pretty good idea as to why Thomas didn’t allow anyone anywhere near his invention’ he announced to no one in particular, and since Scrooge and Louie has now gone off to make sure no one had decided to use the miniature blackout as an opportunity to rob them of their newly kind riches, Beakley stayed to listen, mainly out of pity. ‘Historians believe that the Gullson has the power to completely reverse a person’s personality traits, which would explain why Thomas said he would make an army with it – he most likely planned to do so by using it on the army – and why he had such a sudden change of heart’ he explained, snapping the JWG shut when he had finished. ‘Maybe I could use it on you to make you shut up for two seconds’ Louie snarked as he came over, ‘I’m choosing to be the bigger person and not retaliate, Llewelyn’ Said Huey as he walked off towards another bag of money to help bring it in, leaving Louie to grumble about the use of his first name.  
Beakley tapped Scrooge on the shoulder, ‘Sir, if the Gullson is this dangerous, I highly doubt the garage is a good place to store it’  
‘Och, it’ll be fine, you worry to much’  
‘Famous last words’  
Scrooge rolled his eyes, but Webby came running into the hall before he had time to retaliate, ‘Hey!’ She greeted, looking rather out of breath. ‘Webby, what have I told you about playing in the vents?’ asked Beakley in a This-is-most-definitely-not-a-question sort of voice, ‘I wasn’t in the vents’ said Webby, doing her best to look innocent, and failing miserably.  
‘Do I look like an idi-‘  
‘YOU CAN’T JUST MESS AROUND WITH THE FUSE BOX, DEWEY’  
Dewey and Donald had somehow managed to re-enter the room without anyone noticing, despite Donald’s barley understandable quacking. ‘It’s fine! I watched a YouTube video about it!’  
‘YOU CAN’T LEARN HOW TO USE A FUSE BOX WITH A YOUTUBE VIDEO’  
‘Yeah you can’  
Donald looked like he was going to explode, it was at this point that Dewey decided it would be in his best interest to leave. Donald, however, disagreed, and so he ran after him as he bolted out of the house, trying his best to limit his language to child friendly words.  
‘Beakley, be a dear and check on them in, well… let’s say an hour, shall we?’ said Scrooge, throwing a bag of money over his shoulder.  
‘Of course, and since I’m feeling extra helpful today, I’ll even start planning your nephew’s funeral’ she deadpanned back,  
‘Slightly overdramatic, but alright’  
‘I’ve been spending too much time with Duckworth’ she picked up a another sackful of money, which for some reason protested this in a voice that sounded very similar to Louie’s.  
It was also somewhat Duckling shaped.  
‘Louie Duck! What in blazes are you doing?!’ demanded Scrooge while Beakley tipped him and the contests of the sack onto the ground, ‘No, don’t tell me, you were trying to steal my hard earned money!’  
‘_Whaaaaat_? Like I would ever try and _steal_’ Louie laughed awkwardly, very aware that Huey was snickering from across the room, and that Webby was facepalming. He groaned, ‘Yes! Alright, I was trying to get _my_ hard earned share of the money!’  
‘_Your_ hard earned share?!’  
‘Yes! We risk our necks for this stuff, but you’re the one gets to reap the benefits!’  
‘I am the reason you get to experience the thrill of the adventure, the feeling of the wi-‘  
‘Yeah, cause we never did anything interesting before we met you’  
‘Uh, you did say that your lives were pretty boring before-‘  
‘Webby, this is _not_ the time for honesty!’  
‘Sorry, Louie’  
Beakley sighed and bent down to sweep the rest of the money into the bag, while Louie and Scrooge continued their argument,  
‘Look, all I’m asking for is a teeny tiny percentage of the money, say, fifty percent?’  
‘Oh, of course, and why don’t you just take ownership of the mansion as well ?’  
‘Sure’  
‘I was being sarcastic’  
‘Well that sucks’  
Scrooge sighed, ‘Look, Louie, when you go on your own adventures all by yer wee self, you can keep the money, but this money,’ he grabbed the sack out of Beakley’s hand as she stood up, ‘Is mine’ he growled. Beakley mumbled something under her breath about manners before grabbing another two sacks and carrying them off to the garage, where they’d stay until Launchpad brought them to the bin the next day.  
‘Understand?’ Asked Scrooge with his eyebrow raised expectantly.  
‘So, if we lowered it to like, thirty-‘  
‘Oh for the love of- get out of my sight’ Scrooge pointed up the stairs, presumably intending this to be a sign to go to bed. ‘Okay, okay, yeesh’ Louie said quickly, ‘Just trying to be fair’ he grumbled, trudging his way up the stairs.

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。

‘I hope you’re happy, Louie’ Huey snapped from the top bunk, ‘Thanks to you, we have to go to bed early!’  
‘Yeah, he even tracked me down!’ Dewey complained.  
‘Ok, Huey, you can be mad or whatever, but Dewey, Uncle Donald was legit about to kill you, you should be grateful’ Louie huffed.  
‘I had the situation under control!’  
‘Really?’ Asked Huey, ‘Cause he was holding that spanner in a very threatening manner’  
‘Oh, _please_, you know he’d never actually use it’  
‘True, but still’ said Louie.  
Dewey dangled his head down to Louie’s bunk, ‘Hey, where’s you get that necklace from?’ He asked upon seeing the jewellery his brother was fiddling with.  
‘That machine thingy’  
‘Gullson’ Dewey corrected  
‘Yeah that’  
‘YOU TOOK IT FROM THE _GULLSON_?!’ Huey exclaimed, leaning over the side of his own bunk to look at Louie,  
‘Pipe down! I don’t want Scrooge knowing!’ Louie said crossly, clutching the necklace a little tighter. ‘Louie, that could be dangerous’ his eldest brother warned, looking concerned. Louie rolled his eyes, ‘Please, that old thing’s like a hundred years old, probably doesn’t even work’  
‘Emphasis on probably’  
‘Oh just drop it Huey, what’s gonna happen, I’m suddenly gonna become a good person?’  
Dewey gasped dramatically ‘The _horror_!’  
‘The inventor probably just left it there, why would you even need a necklace for an invention?’ Louie reasoned, examine it further. It didn’t look like it belonged with the invention, which was rusty and brown, though after a quick polishing, the necklace, which had previously blended in with the invention it had been stuck to save from a slight gleam, now shine brightly. The gemstone was clearly diamond, Louie could tell that easily, Huey would later tell him that it was a hexagonal cylinder, with triangular points that had been rounder off so’s to avoid the harsh edges. Louie didn’t care much about that, he could probably get some good cash out of it he stretched the truth far enough.  
Huey sighed, ‘Where about’s on the invention was it?’  
‘It was jammed into some hole thing, pretty sure it wasn’t meant to be though, it didn’t look like it fitted properly’  
‘That could just be because of rusting and dust, it could easily have been intended to be there!’ Huey was now exasperated, ‘Louie, I _re_-‘  
‘Huey, think very carefully, and tell me if you honestly think you make me put something back when it could easily get me money’  
Huey gave another sigh, ‘Fine, but if we wake up and the whole world’s topsy turvy, don’t blame me!’  
Louie rolled his eyes, ‘Where’d you get popcorn from?’ He asked Dewey, who’d been eating the aforementioned popcorn whilst watching his brother’s exchange. Dewey shrugged, and snatched it away from Louie’s hand when he held it out expectantly, ‘hands off!’.  
Louie scoffed and put the necklace around his neck. He liked how it stood out from the green, he decided. He rolled over to face the wall.

Huey was being over dramatic, he thought to himself, what’s the worst that could happen from taking a stupid old necklace?


	2. Betraying Her Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louie awakens to find everything he knows turned upside down, and searches for an ally amongst chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I hope you enjoy:D

Louie had been having quite a nice dream.

It had been something to do with gold, as all his nice dreams were, but also something to do with a very suspicious goat and for some reason Huey had been on a diet where he ate only ice.

There had also been something to do with a dragon, it had been small and green and it spent most of it’s time in the pool, though at some point during the dream it had morphed into a turtle. It hadn’t morphed in a magical sort of way, but in the dreamy sort of way where things can change drastically and you don’t even notice, it’s as if it was always that way.

Louie chose to focus on the part about the money, he wanted to remember that bit.

But it’s quite difficult to keep a good hold on your fading memories of rather odd dreams when someone is shaking you like you’re a special type of marker.

That was, unfortunately how Louie was woken up that morning.

‘_Stoooppp_’ he groaned sleepily, turning away from whichever one of his brothers or sister had decided to wake him early, only to be thrown roughly to the ground with a rather loud thump.

‘Seriously? Was that really necess- _Huey_?!’

Huey was standing over him, his hair a mess, his shirt on backwards, and his hat on sideways. His breathing was heavy and he almost looked as if he was foaming at the mouth. Standing over him was perhaps not the right way to describe Huey’s stance either, he was more hunched over him, his arms dangling at his side like he didn’t quite know what to do with them.

Though perhaps the most notable change in his older brother’s appearance was his eyes, which now were a bright green, and Louie swore they were glowing.

‘Yo, what is wrong with you?!’ he exclaimed, scrambling to stand, trying not to break eye contact. Huey didn’t give any reason for Louie to believe that he’d even heard him, and instead took slow, heavy steps towards him.

‘Stop it! You’re really creeping me out’

Huey didn’t listen, and stopped only when he had Louie pressed against the wall. He brought his face so it was just inches away from his brother’s, and sniffed.

‘What the hell, man?!’ Louie shoved him away, ‘What are you doing?!’ He asked, his tone with fear mixed in with disgust and confusion.

Huey glared, and lunged at his brother.

‘Hey! Get off me!’ Louie protested, by Huey payed him no mind, and shoved his hand down Louie’s jumper,

‘Quit it! I _will _yell “rape”!’ warned Louie, and I, the author, will clarify that this interaction did not resemble any sort of sexual assault, it was just regular assault.

Huey fished around for a second or so before grabbing hold of the necklace, which Louie had tucked into his hoodie before going to sleep, and pulling it out to inspect it. He didn’t bother taking it off his brother neck, instead standing up, and yanking his green-clad brother up by the jewellery.

‘Seriously? All this for a stupid necklace?!’

‘Uh… Webbigail w-wante-wanted i-i-it’

Louie turned as far as he could with Huey’s right hold of the necklace upon hearing his other brother speak in a very non-Dewey manner.

Dewey was pressed up into a corner, his entire body shaking, and eyes glowing the same green as Huey’s. The sleeves of his undershirt had been stretched to cover his hands, and he shifted from foot to foot anxiously.

‘You’ve been there the whole time?! Why didn’t you do anything?!’ Louie exclaimed, and Dewey flinched backwards, apologising over and over again. Louie groaned, and turned to Huey, who still was still clinging to his necklace, ‘What do even want with this?’ He asked angrily, trying to snatch it away from Huey, who only gripped it tighter.

‘We-Webb-Webbigail wants it’ Dewey stammered from the corner

‘What does Webby want with this?! How’d she even _know _about it?!’

‘Um, she – uh, she prefe-pre-prefers “Webbigail”’

‘Since when?!’

‘Since now’

All three brothers turned to see Webbby standing in the doorway, eyes glowing green and not looking anywhere near what Webbys are supposed to look like. She’d thrown her usual clothing out the window, and instead wore a black, long sleeved shirt, not even bothering with her usual skirt. Her bows were gone to, and her hair was in a tight bun, not like Mrs Beakley’s, which only _just_ managed to pass as a messy bun, Webbigail’s bun pulled every single hair on her head back and held it tightly in place. Her face was also very un-Webby-like, not counting her eyes. She was expressionless, with a hint of a glare hidden within her features, not to mention her posture, which was straight and all around perfect. Her arms were by her side and her fists were clenched, like she was ready to kill should anyone step out of line.

‘Webby?! What’s wrong wi-‘

‘Don’t. Call. Me. Webby’ Webbigail warned, pulling a knife out from what seemed like nowhere,

‘Jeez, ok’

Webby’s expression, much like Huey’s, didn’t change as she walked briskly towards him, shoving Huey out of her way and grabbing the necklace herself. She looked it over, giving Louie a warning look whenever he opened his mouth to speak, before looking over to Dewey,

‘Dewford, come look’ she commanded, and Dewey scuttled over.

She shoved the necklace in his face, consequently shoving Louie along with it, making Dewey take a step back in order to avoid collision. Webbigail looked at him expectantly, and so he coughed awkwardly, ‘Uh, y-y-yea-y-yeah I, uh, I th-think that’s why’ he stammered, rubbing his hands together, not in the sort of way that meant he was expecting something, it was more anxious, the sort of rubbing your hands that you do when you’ve nothing else to fidget with.

Webbigail handed the necklace to Dewey, still not taking it off of Louie's neck, who took it with shaking hands and continued to inspect it.

Louie noticed how his brother’s hands shook as he held the necklace, and grinned, this was too easy. Dewey noticed his brother’s grin, and somehow became more anxious,

‘Wha-wh-what are you-‘

‘BOO!’

Dewey jumped backwards in surprise, his hand shot to his chest where it clutched his shirt, and his breathing became quicker, and Louie might’ve felt bad had the situation been different. Dewey had dropped the necklace and given Louie the opportunity to leg it, and so he did.

He darted out of the room, glancing behind him to see if Webbigail or Huey gave chase, and faintly heard Webbigail talking,

‘Leave it, Hubert, the others can deal with him’

Louie sped up.

What was going on? He thought to himself, stopping to glance around a corner to ensure the “others” weren’t around, and why had whatever happened to his siblings not happened to him?

Whatever was happening, he knew one thing was certain, whoever those ducklings were, they weren’t his family. They were the complete _opposite _of his brothers and sister, they hardly even deserved the right to be called their names.

So who were they?

It was as he stopped to glance around a corner that he realised what must have happened,

_“Historians believe that the Gullson has the power to completely reverse a persons personality traits”_

‘Oh you have got to be kidding me’ Louie half yelled, which in hindsight, was not a great idea considering his current situation.

He slowed to a walk upon realising that since Webbigail had decided not to give chase, he had no real reason to run.

Just around the next corner was the staircase that led to the Manor’s entrance, Louie figured he’d get one of the adults, which one depended entirely on which he found first, unless he found Launchpad, in which case he’d enlist his help to find an actual adult.

As it happened, he did find Launchpad first.

‘Hey! Launchpad!’ He called, running to try and catch up with his friend, who was speed-walking down the corridor, but he didn’t seem to hear him, so he tried again, ‘Hey LP!’

Launchpad stopped walking, and Louie finally managed to catch up, ‘Boy am I glad to see you, I think the thingy wa-‘

Launchpad turned around, and glared at him through green, glowing eyes.

‘Oh come on!’ Louie said in exasperation, ‘Seriously?! Am I the only person in this house who’s not been Gullsoned?!’

Launchpad took a step towards him, towering over the duckling with his fists bared and teeth clenched. Louie gulped, laughing nervously and taking a step backwards, ‘H-hey, we can talk about this right?’ He rambled, reminding himself of his blue Gullsoned brother.

He had to think quickly, which he was quite good at.

The Gullson had reversed Launchpad’s entire personality, so all he had do to in order to trick him was think of something the real Launchpad would _never_ do, and chances were Reversed Launchpad would do it.

What would Launchpad never do?

Louie smirked.

‘Y’know, I bet I could pay you _way_ better than Uncle Scrooge can’

Launchpad lowered his fists slightly, and raised an eyebrow, which Louie took as a sign to continue, ‘That old man isn’t giving you a anything _close _to what you deserve, but me? I could pay you right! So what’d you say? Wanna come with good ol’ Louie and fight the good fight? Get payed the good pay?’ Louie stuck his hand out for Launchpad to shake, and the large duck seemed to consider it for a second.

Before grabbing a sword that had been playing decoration for several decades and pressing it against his throat.

‘You’re lying’ he growled, and Louie laughed awkwardly.

He probably should’ve taken into account the fact that if Regular Launchpad was kind of an idiot, then it meant that Reversed Launchpad would be smart, which sucked.

‘Mr Mcquack? What are ye doing?’

Launchpad made a noise of disgust upon hearing the Scottish accent, but didn’t bother turning around. ‘My job’ he replied, pressing the sword harder to Louie’s neck.

Scrooge sighed, and came to stand next to Launchpad, ‘Your _job_ is to drive the limo, not whatever the hell this is’ He said calmly, grabbing the sword out of his hand and pointing it at the pilot, ‘Garage. Now’

Launchpad muttered some words that Louie would definitely repeat later as he stalked down the hallway, and Louie sighed a breathe of relief.

Scrooge watched him go, before turning to look at his nephew with, unsurprisingly at this point, green eyes.

‘Yer eyes’ He said with unnerving calm, ‘they’re not green’

‘Yeah, I know’

Scrooge smiled, and used the sword to jab at the necklace, ‘Fine peace of jewellery ye’ve got there’ He told him in a manner that suggested he didn’t mean a word he said, and that he meant something else entirely. Louie glared, ‘What’s going on?’

Scrooge chuckled, ‘With you? I’m not quite sure, but ye can’t be allowed to wander around like this’ he replied, his tone never changing.

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yes, I could just slit your throat right now’ Scrooge mused, tracing the sword along the Duckling’s throat, who flinched and whimpered slightly, though he tried not to show it. ‘But that would be to easy’ he lowered the sword to the ground, and his smile went from calm and unnerving to just unnerving, ‘Ye have ten minutes to get out of this house, and if ye do, I’ll leave ye to yer own devices’

He brought his face to be inches away from Louie’s, ‘and if ye don’t, I’ll just have to leave ye in the vault until ye wither away’

Louie swallowed, and nodded quickly.

Scrooge’s smile became downright creepy, ‘_Run’_

And Louie ran.

He ran as fast as you could, trying to gather his thoughts into an organised pile so he could look through them.

Regular Launchpad would do anything his employer asked him to do without hesitation, provided he hadn’t been ask to do anything immoral, which meant that Gullsoned Launchpad probably wouldn’t, and so most likely hadn’t gone to the garage.

He gave himself a mental pat on the back as he spotted Launchpad making his way into one of the rooms in the foyer that Louie had forgotten the name of.

He had ten minutes before Scrooge would start chasing after him, which would be plenty of time to get out as long as he didn’t run into anymore Gullsoned family members.

Apparently he he’d inherited some of his Uncle’s bad luck, since whilst he was running for the door, he bumped straight into a tall figure hastily making her way out of the same room Launchpad had walked into.

Mrs Beakley.

His first thoughts were something along the lines of “Ah Phooey”.

Mrs Beakley jumped when she saw him, and scrambled backwards, raising her fists to fight, though not in her usual death-will-come-to-all-who-cross-my-path fashion, it was more of a please-don’t-kill-me kind of style.

Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were green and full of fear.

That was when Louie’s second thoughts arrived.

His seconds thoughts went something like this;

His think-of-something-they-would-never-do tactic had almost worked on Launchpad, but Launchpad had been trying to kill him, so he figured his quick thinking was forgivable. Granted, now Scrooge was trying to kill him, but Louie overlooked that, he knew what he was doing this time, ish.

There was one thing Mrs Beakley would never do – betray her family.

‘G-get away from me’ Beakley warned, grabbing a broom that had been left nearby and pointing it at him threateningly, but her voice had terror laced in, and she didn’t look like she had a clue what do with the broom should Louie disobey her.

Louie smiled calmly, ‘Hey, chill, I’m just a kid, what am I gonna do?’

‘That’s what Webbigail said’

‘Well I’m not her, and frankly, I really don’t wanna know what she did to you’ He said, glancing at her ripped sleeve, ‘What I wanna know is, do you really think your gonna win?’

Mrs Beakley lowered the broom ever so slightly, looking confused, ‘Win what?’

‘Uh…y’know, the, uh…the fight!’

Beakley flinched and tightened her hold on the broom, ‘the fight?!’

‘Yeah! Cause, I _obviously _have to get everyone here back to normal, and it’s not like McDucks go down without a fight!’

Beakley’s eyes became slightly more angry, though it was almost hard to see through the fear, ‘I am _not _changing back’ she said with a shudder.

That’s what I’m counting on, thought Louie, ‘Really?’ He asked, feigning surprise, ‘Well then how about you and I make a deal’

Beakley raised an eyebrow, ‘Go on’

‘You help me get the others back to normal, and we’ll figure out a way to let you stay as you are’

Beakley considered it for a moment, during which Louie glanced at the clock, she’d better be quick in deciding, he thought, he didn’t have long until Scrooge started looking for him.

Beakley lowered the broom, ‘Deal’

Louie grinned, ‘great!’

Beakley jumped and Louie grimaced as they heard a chair scraping against tiles in the kitchen, and heavy footsteps quickly getting closer, Launchpad was coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	3. Lavender

‘Hide me!’ Louie hissed, knowing that he didn’t have enough time to get out of the house before Launchpad came out of the kitchen. Launchpad hadn’t been there for Scrooge’s “deal” - if you could call it that – so he would have zero qualms about beating him to a pulp.

Beakley looked at him like he’d just told her to jump of a bridge to see how pointy the rocks at the bottom were, and in return he gave her a look that he thought said “We had a deal!”, but to Beakley it said “I will end your life” (though it must be said that in her reversed state, she thought a lot of looks said that), so she glanced around hastily, and pointed to a large curtain, ‘There!’ She hissed in reply, ‘Go, quick!’

Louie ran towards the curtains, which given the fact that Launchpad was now smart probably wouldn’t make for a good hiding place, so he opted to hide in the hallway they marked the entrance to.

He crouched down with is back to the wall, the curtains managing to hide anything that might poke out and give him away, and listened.

He heard the door opening and Launchpad stepping out, and the sound of Mrs Beakley busying herself with sweeping,

‘Hey, you’ Launchpad said pointedly, and could practically hear Beakley flinching.

‘Y-Yes…?’

‘D’you hear that kid I told you about? I swear I heard him around here’

‘Nope!’ Said Beakley, quickly and unconvincingly, and Louie groaned inwardly.

‘Oh really?’ Launchpad’s tone was deep and menacing, and was soon followed by thumps and crashes and Beakley whimpering, which was a sound Louie was sure he would absolutely never hear from her again. ‘Because if I find out you’re lying’ his tone stayed the same, and whatever he was doing to Beakley he must have done it harder, since she seemed to gasp for air, Louie guessed he was choking her, ‘I _will _kill you’

There was a pause where neither seemed to move or say a word.

‘Got it?’

‘Y-y-ye-yes’

Louie couldn’t tell if Beakley was stuttering out of fear, or if it was because of Launchpad probably choking her.

There was another thump, followed by footsteps heading up the stairs, and Louie let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

He peered around the curtain and saw Beakley dragging herself up from the floor, but no one else.

‘Come on! We don’t have long before Scrooge starts looking for us!’ He half whispered half yelled, grabbing her hand as he ran for the exit. Beakley’s hand didn’t quite grip his, it just sort of sat in his grasp and didn’t seem to care if it might slip away.

Louie thrust open the doors, and Beakley yanked her hand out of his to avoid being dragged like a child would drag a stuffed animal down the steps, but thankfully continued running closely behind him.

No one else seemed to be present in the garden, for once Louie was glad that his uncle was to cheap to hire gardeners.

Getting out the gate was easy – Scrooge had had a keypad installed so the kids could exit from the inside without having to get an adult to open it from the house, and Huey had made his brothers and sister memorise it when he finally got sick of being dragged down to put the code in when the others forgot, which was very often.

The gate unlocked with a click and Beakley, who had been anxiously hopping from foot to foot whilst Louie entered the code, thrust it open and dashed out, slamming it closed once Louie followed suit. She paused for breath, but Louie grabbed her hand again and began running down the hill,

‘What are you doing?!’ Beakley spluttered, without making much of an effort to take her hand out of his, ‘We’re out of the manor, they said they wouldn’t come after us!’

‘Yeah, cause those guys are _real_ trustworthy right now’

Beakley sped up

In the end, they didn’t run the whole way down the hill. The path leading up to McDuck Manor was long and it looped around the hill a thousand times before it spat you out at the bottom. They hadn’t gotten very far before they slowed to a jog, and then an awkward half-jog-half-speedwalk sort of thing, before finally settling on trudging down the hill.

The walk down the hill hadn’t ever felt quite this long, sure, he’d always complained about the length of time it took to get down there, and once or twice he’d got Webby to carry him, but now the walk felt twice as long. Perhaps it had felt shorter with his brothers and sister talking and laughing with him, but it had never felt short before, it felt unbearably long even then. Now it seemed to last a million years.

Even worse, he had to walk it with a Reversed Beakley.

Walking down the hill with regular Beakley wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, sure she was strict and grumpy, but if he bugged her enough she’d probably let him sit on her shoulder.

Gullsoned Beakley had let him sit on his shoulder too (most likely out of fear of what he might do if she didn’t let him), but he ended up getting down since she was shaking so much.

Louie had a feeling that Gullsoned Beakley wasn’t exactly trustworthy, but as long as the reward was high enough he’d be able to keep her in check.

He whipped out his phone to scroll through Twitter, and his eyes went wide.

The Gullson’s effects had been worldwide.

According to a post by Duckburg’s Daily News, people all over the world had awoken to find that their entire outlook on life had been rewritten, though their memories of the past stayed the same.

Which was absolutely fantastic, Louie thought to himself, despite it being the exact opposite of absolutely-fantastic.

He groaned and shoved his phone roughly into his hoodie pocket, what was he meant to do now? Originally his plan had been to grab Gladstone and let his good luck save the day for him, but now Gladstone probably didn’t even have any good luck.

He looked over to Beakley, who was hugging herself as she walked, and glancing around anxiously like someone might attack her at any given moment.

She noticed him staring at her, and desperately tried to avoid eye contact, whilst Louie continued to stare.

‘Lavender’ He said finally,

‘Lavender?’ Beakley looked at him with confusion, and a slight mix of fear that Louie had learned to recognise as her resting expression, on her face, ‘W-What do you mean?’

‘I’m gonna call you Lavender’

‘What?’

‘Lav for short’

‘Why?’

‘Well I can’t call you Beakley!’

‘But I _am_ Beakley’

‘Uh, yeah, no you’re not, _this_-‘ he said, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his camera roll, ‘Just gimmie a sec- here we go – _this _is Beakley’ He thrust the phone into her face.

The screen showed a picture of Beakley, he’d snapped it whilst some monster that he hadn’t stuck around to hear the name of was attacking the mansion. That particular day he’d been trying to set Louie Inc up as a Ghostbusting business, which was obviously a scam, Ghosts couldn’t be busted, according to Duckworth, they were already dead, and besides, ghosts never appeared unless summoned, so if a ghost _did_ show up you’d brought it on yourself.

But that didn’t stop the paranoid citizens of Duckburg from calling up Louie Inc to have them help them with their apparent ghost problems. Most callers had expected Beakley to show up, as Louie had used the picture of her baring her fists at an out of frame enemy as promotional images, but Beakley had refused to have any part in scamming innocent people, so they’d just gotten Webby and Launchpad, who had no idea what he was doing or that he was taking part in a scam, to come instead.

It hadn’t ended all that well, but Louie had made a profit so he didn’t count it as a total lose.

Right now, Gullsoned Beakley – or Lavender – shuddered as she saw the picture,

‘Bu-‘ she started, only for Louie to quickly switch to the camera app. Lavender let out a frightened squeak as the flash went off, and took a step back as Louie showed her the picture he’d taken,

‘_This_-‘ He said, using one had to gesture at the picture, which showed Lavender recoiling in fear at a phone, ‘Is _not _Beakley, this is now Lavender’

Lavender nodded slowly, and continued walking in silence.

They’d most likely been walking for half an hour, and were almost at the end of the hill, with Louie scrolling through his phone and trying to come up with a plan, and Lavender staring at the ground before she spoke up, ‘Why Lavender?’

Louie shrugged, ‘Can’t call you Purple’

‘Why?’

‘S’just weird’

Lavender nodded in pretend understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been five years but here's chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think!


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